My Nightmare has came true:-(

Pat have you tried Dr. Enochs? I'm unsure of who you saw on yesterday but I do know that Enochs takes Medicaid. Also Village Surgical in Fayetteville does high BMI's. A friend of mine who was 448 had her RNY done there last Thursday. Please don't give up...it will happen for you. If you want to e mail me privately feel free to do so at [email protected] Donna Ferguson

I called Susan from Dr. Fernandez office and asked if they knew of a Surgeon that handles high BMI's (72). She said for me not to get my hopes up that she needed to make a call and then she will call me back so we hung up and I waited for her call back. and she did, She gave me a phone number to call and talk with the Nurse Coordinator, I did, and now have an appointment for January 26th or next week..lol ...With Dr Kellam and get this...My Surgery will be in January, I can't get my hopes up again untill they ...say " your Surgery date is"....... Has anyone had their Surgeru done by Dr Kellam? Pat C

Pat, That sounds like really positive news, but don't put all your eggs in one basket hun. It might not be a bad idea to continue researching surgeons who handle a high BMI. I wish you all the best in your endeveaour. Donna Ferguson

God Bless Susan........hang in there girlie! Love ya, PatS

Dearest Pat PC, See all the responses. It will happen. You will see. Never give up girlfriend!. We all love you and will be here for you. Love, Diane

Pat, I have been keeping up with your post most of the day praying for some good news. Dr. Lori Kellum is the Dr that I went to before Dr. Fernandez. She is very sweet and very caring. She is the chief of surgery at Forsyth Hospital and very good friends with a doctor I work with. I really liked her, but though that I would rather have it lap. A lady that you might wanna talk to is Laurina Hardin, she is on this site.She is very sweet and nice people, and I met her and a few more from on here were I was going to Kellum. They have their group meetings every last Thursday of the month. They will usally get together and go out to eat before. If you would like to go this month and they have it due to the holidays, I am considering going to that support group until fuzz gets his started. Let me know what you think... Nicole

Oh...Pat..my heart just dropped when i read your message. You know ther is a bigger reason that this isn't the doctor for you. We don't question...we keep our heads up, don't give up and find another suitable doctor that is more equipped and trained for a higher BMI. Now look at it positively, I know tonight that's hard. You are truly in my prayers tonight. Look at peers list and some of the BMI's and that will narrow down some of the surgeons more equipped to do your surgery. You want the best...if he doesn't want to do it...WELL...you don't want him to do it. Love and hugs go to you and my prayers. Jeanie

Hi Pat, I know how heart broken you feel, because the same thing happened to me. So I will give you some wisdom that I obtained the hard way. If I were you I would *not* go to Dr. Malik. Reason being that he only operated at Rex (at last I checked) and Rex had a maximum capacity of 400 pounds to do this surgery. After the experience I personally had with this staff I am **VERY** happy I did NOT go with him anyways. This is just my personal experience. Dr. Brader is wonderful but last I heard Wake Med wasn't allowing for gastric bypasses to be done there. Also, that $6200 up front cost, along with him not being in network with any insurance is nothing to sneeze at either. As for Dr. Enochs... I, too, have heard wonderful things about him but last I heard is that he was only performing surgery at Rex, which has the 400 pound weight limit too. I've also heard great things about a doctor in Fayetteville that has excellent credentials and no maximum weight to perform this surgery. I personally have a BMI of 65 and I am going to a highly experienced bariatric specialist in Newport News, Virginia who has been doing this surgery for about 10 years, perform my procedure. He does NOT have a maximum BMI that he will perform open rny on. If you'd like more on this doctor, just email me. Everything I've said in this post was acurate at the last time I checked, which wasn't too long ago ;) I hope this helps, trust me I know what it's like to be crushed by thinking you're too big for this weight *loss* surgery! -Resie-

It is very good to see that your complications are just bad memories for you both. I am going through complications right now from a gastric bypass on May 16. I was a week out from surgery when I ran a fever and went to the hospital. It was found that I had a severe leak and an infected abscess. (Abscess in a cavity outside the pouch.) The infection has gone away, and the abscess has gone down. The leak is still there. I was in the hospital for 3 weeks. I am home now, but I still have a drain tube and a feeding tube. I can't eat or drink anything by mouth. Too much of it goes out the leak, and we want the leak to stay as clear as possible so it can heal. I get my nutrition via the feeding tube... protein shake drip over 10-12 hours every night, and I give myself 3-4 water bolises a day. There's really no nice way to say how I feel about having to be tube fed. I know there are people who live their lives this way, and I am just dumbfounded. My entire summer has been ruined, and I am very scared about how this is going to end. I am so scared I will be tube feeding forever. My surgeon says he believes the leak is sealing itself up, but I can't help but be skeptical. I still have a significant amount of saliva coming out the drain, and it is hard to believe good news when you've been hit with the worst complications. I try to keep positive and to believe him. He is a very good surgeon. I studied him and personally got to know many of his patients for 2 years before I went into surgery. I just am the lucky one to be his first major complication. I know he's fixed complications for the patients of other surgeons, so I have faith that he can fix mine. I have had days of depression like I have never known before... and I thought I had seen some depressing days in my life. I had lung surgery to remove a tumor last year... and this was surely supposed to be easier than that. I knew the risks going in, but good grief. I am wholly regretting ever doing this right now. I want to believe this will change. I've lost 30 pounds so far, but it is bittersweet to me. I just keep thinking if I had tube fed prior to surgery, I'd have lost 30 pounds then too. lol But, I guess it is better than going through all of this and not losing weight, and my surgeon says I am taking in more calories than the average post-op... so the surgery is working. My husband is amazing. He is helping take wonderful care of me. He sets up my feedings every night and he came out to the hospital every single night of the 3 weeks I was in there. He's flushing my picc line and doing everything he can to support me. He feels helpless and wishes he could fix this for me. But, I get so depressed because I just feel so guilty about how his summer has been ruined, too, and how he didn't sign up for this when we got married. Of course he said for better or for worse... and he truly lives it and says his summer isn't ruined and how he loves me no matter what. I would do the same for him. But I just can't get over these feelings. I am so very lucky to have him. I thank god for him every day, and I wish his life could get back to normal even more than my own. I just wish I knew that there was going to be a good end to this. I am thankful that things seem to slowly be improving, but there is just no ETA on anything. My surgeon is trying to do anything he can to let the leak fix itself and not to re-operate. Apparently, re-operating on a leak isn't the best thing to do. At least not this soon after surgery. They inserted a stent into my esophagus and down over the leak, but it eventually moved downstream. Unless I am lucky enough to pass it, which is unlikely, I face another surgery to have the stent removed. I'm also tired of the pain that comes with every aspect of my recovery. "Conscious sedation" has only really helped me through one procedure, so every time I have a tube or picc line inserted I can feel it. This is just a huge nightmare. Unbelieveable. All those times prior to surgery I got scared, now I am wishing I listened to myself. I always wiped away the negative thoughts with positive ones... and as the surgery date closed in and I knew well of all the risks, I shut people out who wanted to tell me more horror stories. I've always been a mind over matter type person... think positive thoughts. Oh my god it is so hard to keep thinking positive thoughts when everything so far has been a nightmare. Anyway, I finally jumped on here to see if there was a board about complications. I am very glad to see that there are people who have been through the same and worse who end up not regretting doing this... or at least end up ok. Not that I would wish complications on anyone just so I can commiserate! I'm not glad anyone had to go through near death experiences and ventilators. Hopefully you understand what I'm saying. I'm saying thanks for sharing your stories.

(((((((((((((PAT))))))))))))))))) I was so saddened to hear this news and wanted to see you in chat this evening and fell asleep. Do not give up as you know my BMI is 83 and I have a surgeon willing to see me and I was told as long as I got my weight too 500 pounds its not an issue that would make my bmi 78 Dr.Carter in Fayetville!